‘Coco’ is delicious
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As Pixar delves more into sequel territory (looking at you, Cars 3 and Finding Dory), here comes an animated fiesta that reminds just how good those folks are with originality.
Effervescent, clever and thoughtful, Coco ( eeeg; rated PG; in theaters nationwide Wednesday) is infused with an infectious, youthful spirit and a deep musical soul in telling the tale of a young Mexican boy with a twofold mission: to grab his musical dreams and heal a familial rift. The joyful journey is Pixar’s best effort since 2015’s Inside Out, and, like the studio’s greatest works, makes you laugh and cry in equal doses. (If Up left you a teary mess, go ahead and bring a whole tissue box.)
Director Lee Unkrich ( Toy Story 3) centers the story on the Day of the Dead and the importance of family — though Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) in his own way rebels against his clan.
A gifted 12-year-old, Miguel yearns to be a balladeer like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), an A-list celebrity of yesteryear who’s a Latino Elvis and the most famous son of Santa Cecilia. But music is banned in Miguel’s household because his great-great-grandfather left the family behind for a performing career many years before, so Miguel has to teach himself guitar in secret.
He runs off to the Land of the Dead — full of wondrous sights and skeleton residents — to find his ancestor and right a wrong, meeting the rest of his de- ceased relatives and a lovable scamp named Héctor (Gael García Bernal). He’s a key to getting Miguel some face time with Ernesto but also the guy who relays the stakes at hand: If someone in the Land of the Dead is forgotten by his family, he disappears into the ether, and if Miguel doesn’t get back home in time, he’ll turn into a skull and bones himself.
Coco is one of Pixar’s most gorgeously animated outings in some time. The Land of the Dead pops like an afterlife Las Vegas. The screenplay by Matthew Aldrich and co-director Adrian Molina sticks to the Pixar template in terms of coming-of-age and find-your-identity themes and is unabashed in its emotional manipulation. By the time you realize it, your heart’s been wholly warmed, and there’s no going back.
Bratt lends over-the-top machismo to Ernesto, Bernal gives Héctor a fun sparkle, and Alanna Ubach is all sass as Mama Imelda, Miguel’s no-nonsense great-great-grandmother.
But Gonzalez is tops among the cast: The 13-year-old newcomer gives Miguel a mischievous but heroic quality and a surprising depth, especially in the loving asides between Miguel and his great-grandmother Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía). Plus, the kid can sing like nobody’s business.
Coco is arguably the most musical Pixar film. Proud Corazón is an emotionally packed showstopper for Gonzalez, who also duets with Bernal on the toe-tapping Un Poco Loco. The Let It Go of the bunch is Remember Me, a track by the Frozen songwriting team that gets reprised by different characters yet feels fresh every time.
Not that you’ll forget how moving Coco is anytime soon.